The present invention relates to direct broadcast satellite systems. In particular the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing an electronic, interactive program guide that includes guide information for both DBS and over-the-air channels in a format that is seamless between the DBS and OTA channels.
The first direct broadcast satellite (xe2x80x9cDBSxe2x80x9d) system, DSSxe2x80x94Digital Satellite System (DSS is a trademark of DIRECT, Inc. a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp.), was launched in late 1994 and now carries up to 200 channels. Since that time, several other DBS system have been launched in the United States, including PrimeStar, EchoStar (DISH Network) and AlphaStar (PrimeStar is a trademark of Primestar Partners, Limited, EchoStar and DISH Network are trademarks of Echostar Communications Corporation, AlphaStar is a trademark of AlphaStar Television Network Inc.). By federal regulations, no local over-the-air (xe2x80x9cOTAxe2x80x9d) channels are carried by DSS or any other DBS system. DBS users have to have a separate rooftop antenna or subscribe to basic cable television service to receive such channels. After the launch of DBS systems, feedback from the market place was received that consumers look upon the availability of local channels as a very important issue. DBS receivers generally have an antenna input port for connecting to the rooftop antenna or cable television system. There is however, no built in RF tuner to receive the signal in most DBS receivers. The signal from the antenna input port is simply passed through to the TV, with the TV""s tuner tuning the OTA channels.
With 150 or more channels of programming, most DBS systems send a program guide through a data channel that is part of the satellite broadcast, at very high speed. The data contains information for approximately the next 3 days for the DBS channels. Using the high data rate, the mode of operation is like teletext: data is continuously sent in a loop; there is a waiting time of a few seconds (almost no wait for the next few hours listings; longer wait for programs more into the future; also longer wait in first generation machines). The program guide contains data only for the DBS channels, and no data for local OTA channels. Even though at any given locality, there are only 10-20 local OTA channels compared with 150 or more DBS channels, for the whole U.S., there are close to 1700 OTA channels. To send program information for all these 1700 stations over the data channel currently used for guide information on DBS systems will involve more than 10 times the data required for DBS channels, which, in a loop, would require tens of seconds, which consumers would find unacceptable.
Electronic program guides (xe2x80x9cEPGsxe2x80x9d) are also available for OTA and cable television systems. An example of such an EPG is described in PCT published application, publication number WO 96/07270, published Mar. 7, 1996 which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein and in U.S pending patent application Ser. No. 08/475,395, filed Jun. 7, 1995 and Ser. No. 08/744,399 which is also hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The applications disclose EPG systems with an EPG module generally located in either a VCR or a television. In either case, the program data used by the EPG is transmitted over OTA or cable channels encoded in vertical blanking interval (xe2x80x9cVBIxe2x80x9d) of these television signals. In one embodiment, all of the program data for a time period, such as several days or a week, is loaded via VBI into the EPG module in the middle of the night and stored in memory. Then, when the EPG is used during the day or the evening, all of the program data needed by the consumer is resident locally in the EPG. An embodiment of the inventions disclosed in the applications is marketed in the United States under the trademark GUIDE PLUS+, owned by Gemstar Development Corporation.